Welcome to the first newsletter for the Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) project. SURF was approved by the Interreg IVB Programme in September 2009. The project, co-ordinated by lead partner Aberdeen brings together partners from 5 countries across the North Sea Region. Recognising the value of urban fringes to local communities, the project aims to protect and unlocking their potential and enhance their quality for future generations. Urban fringes are used for a multitude of purposes but due to complex issues of ownership and administration are often neglected, suffering - declining biodiversity deteriorating water quality low green space value poor accessibility & wide social inequalities lack of identity under presssure from changing demographics The SURF project aims to put the urban fringe higher on the political agenda and encourage greater integration between policies and programmes at local, regional and national level. Partners met for the SURF project start meeting in Aberdeen in December 2009 and more recently in at the annual SURF conference in Enschede in June 2010. These events enabled project partners to develop ideas and share experiences on urban fringes. 1 2 3 4 Issue 1 - 2010 SURF Website To find out more about the Sustainable Urban Fringes SURF project log onto the the new website. www.sustainablefringes.eu
Transcript
Welcome to the first newsletter for the SustainableUrban Fringes (SURF) project.SURF was approved by the Interreg IVB Programmein September 2009. The project, co-ordinated bylead partner Aberdeen brings together partners from5 countries across the North Sea Region.Recognising the value of urbanfringes to local communities, theproject aims to protect and unlockingtheir potential and enhance theirquality for future generations.Urban fringes are used for amultitude of purposes but due tocomplex issues of ownership andadministration are often neglected,suffering - declining biodiversity
deteriorating water qualitylow green space valuepoor accessibility & wide socialinequalitieslack of identityunder presssure from changingdemographics
The SURF project aims to put theurban fringe higher on the politicalagenda and encourage greaterintegration between policies andprogrammes at local, regional andnational level.Partners met for the SURF projectstart meeting in Aberdeen inDecember 2009 and more recently
in at the annual SURF conferencein Enschede in June 2010. Theseevents enabled project partners todeve lop i deas and sha reexperiences on urban fringes.
1234
Issue 1 - 2010
SURF WebsiteTo find out more about theSustainable Urban FringesSURF project log onto the thenew website.www.sustainablefringes.eu
Working to understandingthe characteristics of urbanfringes, the role they playin our urban environmentand gathering evidence tohow these can besustainably managed areSURF scientific experts.
The team of partners is led by Centrefor Urban Development andEnvi ronmenta l Management(CUDEM) at Leeds MetropolitanUniversity as part of SURFWorkpage 3, Review and Analysis.Throughout the project the team willwork closely with SURF partnersSaxion University. They will also linkto the work undertaken by Enschedein Work package 4.
1
2
3
4
5
6
This work has already made keyprogress including establishingthemes to focus the SURF projectand developing a SURF analyticalframework to guide the overallproject delivery and timeframes.This framework will take into accountthe range of different projects andinterests of SURF partner projectsand demonstrate project links to thecore SURF themes.Key objectives:
“ Understanding thevalue of urban fringeswill ensure they areprotected andpreserved for futuregenerations.”
Economy, competitivenessand enterprise
The role and value of greenspaces
Planning and stakeholderengagement
Governance of urban fringes
Undertake a problem analysisof urban fringe regions.
Undertake a review of existingapproaches in the urbanfringes.
Enable transnational workingon these issues andapproaches.
Find ways to integrate policiesand programmes for urbanfringes.
Bradford
The Bradford element of the SURFproject is now in its developmentphase and gaining momentum. Alocal steering group has beenestablished with representativesfrom the local Parish Council, theHaworth Village Association, a localbusiness network, the City Regionteam, Keighley Area Office and theproject team and plans to includerepresentatives from Bradford’s localStrategic Partnership.The group has held severalmeetings which have set the scenefor the SURF project and tackledBradford’s response to the SWOTanalysis. This provided ano p p o r t u n i t y e n g a g e l o c a lstakeholders about the issues of thelocal urban fringe. The group havealso looked at proposals for the next6 months including key actions toengage a wider audience ofbusinesses, residents and otherorganisations.Following discussions the RegionalDevelopment Agency for Yorkshireand The Humber have expressedinterest in supporting the project.Bradford has hosted a meeting withstudents from Saxion University and
Aberdeen
In each edition of the SURFnewsletter we will catch upwith the work of some of ourpartners. In this edition thespotlight falls on Bradfordand Aberdeen.
The project aims to engagecommunities in the urban/ruralfringe of Airedale, in particular theWorth Valley so that theyunderstand and develop theircontribution to thecompetitiveness of the Leeds CityRegion and the Yorkshire Regionthrough local action.
The project aims to empowercommunities, landowners andstakeholder groups to be able tomake environmental decisionsusing the Council’s Open SpaceAudit data to improve access, theriver and creating economicopportunities on Aberdeen’snorthern urban fringe using bestpractice and trans-nationallearning.
offered the opportunity for studenton an international MSC programmeat the university to assist with localresearch for the project in June.
The Aberdeen SURF partner projectis work ing to improve theenvironment along the River Doncorridor which runs through the northof the city and out to sea. While theriver is an important area to the city,access for city residents is poor.The project aims to improve accessand encourage involvement fromcommunities adjacent to this urbanfringe.Aberdeen has been busyestabl ishing l inks wi th keystakeholders and working with localpartners. Proposals are underwayfor a local conference to engagestakeholders in th is urbanenvironment.Greenspace areas along the RiverDon have been documented in anOpen Space Audit and recorded ona GIS tool.
A Partnership Declaration wasformally signed by partnerpoliticians and representativeson the first day of theSustainable Urban Fringes(SURF) Annual Conference on24 and 25 June 2010.
Hans van Agteren, Alderman forEnschede and AberdeenCouncillor Kate Dean, Convenerfor the city’s Enterprise, Planningand Infrastructure Committee,led partner representatives insigning the document. This wasto demonstrate high levelcommitment to the SURF projectand underline political supportto planning for the future ofurban fringes.
Delegates from the UK,Netherlands, Germany, Belgiumand Sweden attended the twoday event in the City ofEnschede.
Partners attending theconference signed up to one ofthe 4 specialist key themes theywill focus on during the courseof the project.
SURF project partners - Enschede
Leading workpackage 4 of the SURFproject is Rolf Oldejans fromEnschede.
Work is currently underway on a firstreport on the strength, weaknesses,opportunities and threats for urbanfringes in the North Sea Region. Thisfollows an initial SWOT analysis onurban fringes led by Enschede andSURF scientific partners with inputfrom all project partners.The SWOT technique will be animportant element of the SURFanalytical process. Instead of beinga one-off activity SURF will use theprocess to gather collective opinionsand responses from all the SURFpartners at important stagesthroughout project.
SWOT 1 has gathered initialperceptions from the partners.This will build a picture of the keyissues and priorities of the SURFpartners and identify where futureanalytical work should be focused.
SWOT 2 due in 2011will be a morein-depth analysis by the partners.
SWOT 3 to be carried out in 2012when it is expected that partners willhave established strong links withstakeholders in their region. Theywill have spent time considering thekey SURF themes and SURFresearch and analysis reports.
The Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF)Project is part of the Interreg IVB NorthSea Region Programme and is partlyfunded by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund.
A governance model for theurban fringes of city regions.Recommendations to supportand strengthen SMEs/enterprise.A set of integrated policyguidelines and approaches forurban fringes.A toolkit for greenspacemanagement and developingaccessible linkages.Comparison of urban fringepolicies and recommendationsfor future policy.A SURF accessible learninglegacy.An academic foundation andframework.
